ffemtreed wrote:I seen too much of Semin when he played with the Caps, I want no part of him. He has no heart and soul when he plays. He is one of the main reasons the caps never won a cup, we refused to change his game and play playoff hockey when he needed to. We don't need any floater on our team playing the perimeter and looking for the pretty pass from Sid or Malkin. besides Semin has absolutely NO hockey sense whatsoever, remember he can't even see what is so special about Sid.

i actually thought semin was one of the better caps in the playoffs. I think if you get him away from Ovie, he'll be fine, not that i want him as a penguin but i think a lot of semin's problems was playing on the caps.

ffemtreed wrote:I seen too much of Semin when he played with the Caps, I want no part of him. He has no heart and soul when he plays. He is one of the main reasons the caps never won a cup, we refused to change his game and play playoff hockey when he needed to. We don't need any floater on our team playing the perimeter and looking for the pretty pass from Sid or Malkin. besides Semin has absolutely NO hockey sense whatsoever, remember he can't even see what is so special about Sid.

i actually thought semin was one of the better caps in the playoffs. I think if you get him away from Ovie, he'll be fine, not that i want him as a penguin but i think a lot of semin's problems was playing on the caps.

There were one or two series i remember that he played with passion and got his face dirty, but that was the rare exception for him. I am also concerned on how much he dissappeared when the caps changed there game from the run and gun to the D first. He was lost during that time, but I guess that could have been the coaches fault as well.

I really think Semin has a bad rap amongst pens fans because he played for the caps. He's never been a slouch in the defensive zone. Like all pure scorers (Neal included) he'll go for stretches without scoring, but he's far from a perimeter player/floater.

sil wrote:I really think Semin has a bad rap amongst pens fans because he played for the caps. He's never been a slouch in the defensive zone. Like all pure scorers (Neal included) he'll go for stretches without scoring, but he's far from a perimeter player/floater.

I watched him play a lot and my dislike for him is not because he played for the caps. Most of his goals are scored from the perimeter, he doesn't get the down and dirty goals. His defensive play is a question mark just because of the system he has played in. He did seem very weak though and easily got knocked off the puck when his stick was checked and he didn't win as many battles along the boards for pucks either.

AlexPKeaton wrote:Ottawa is looking to trade Gonchar for nothing. He has 1 year left at 5.5mil. Could be a decent stopgap until next season when more prospects are ready.

No thanks on that

actually depending on what happens in FA I wouldn't mind seeing Gonchar back here for a year, even only playing 5 or 6 minutes and PP time. Other than Letang we don't have any real PP QB's. Our 2nd PP was really inhibited by having guys like Engelland and Orpik back there all year. Nisky did a good job but was horrible lugging the puck up the ice.

The only issue is throwing Despres into those big minutes and letting him sink or swim. He played enough last year to get used to the NHL speed, as long as he muscled up a bit this year I think he can progress very nicely in that #4 spot without having to worry about PK or PP just yet. I would like to see him get some #2 PP time 1/2 through the season if his play warrants it.

I like Despres, he's going to be very good. But saying he'll make a true shutdown pairing or be logging a ton of minutes as a rookie isn't realistic. I expect him to look very good for stretches and very bad for stretches while logging minimal minutes if he makes the team.

AlexPKeaton wrote:Ottawa is looking to trade Gonchar for nothing. He has 1 year left at 5.5mil. Could be a decent stopgap until next season when more prospects are ready.

No thanks on that

actually depending on what happens in FA I wouldn't mind seeing Gonchar back here for a year, even only playing 5 or 6 minutes and PP time. Other than Letang we don't have any real PP QB's. Our 2nd PP was really inhibited by having guys like Engelland and Orpik back there all year. Nisky did a good job but was horrible lugging the puck up the ice.

The only issue is throwing Despres into those big minutes and letting him sink or swim. He played enough last year to get used to the NHL speed, as long as he muscled up a bit this year I think he can progress very nicely in that #4 spot without having to worry about PK or PP just yet. I would like to see him get some #2 PP time 1/2 through the season if his play warrants it.

You want to pay Gonchar 5.5 million to play 5-6 minutes and some PP time?

AlexPKeaton wrote:Ottawa is looking to trade Gonchar for nothing. He has 1 year left at 5.5mil. Could be a decent stopgap until next season when more prospects are ready.

No thanks on that

actually depending on what happens in FA I wouldn't mind seeing Gonchar back here for a year, even only playing 5 or 6 minutes and PP time. Other than Letang we don't have any real PP QB's. Our 2nd PP was really inhibited by having guys like Engelland and Orpik back there all year. Nisky did a good job but was horrible lugging the puck up the ice.

The only issue is throwing Despres into those big minutes and letting him sink or swim. He played enough last year to get used to the NHL speed, as long as he muscled up a bit this year I think he can progress very nicely in that #4 spot without having to worry about PK or PP just yet. I would like to see him get some #2 PP time 1/2 through the season if his play warrants it.

You want to pay Gonchar 5.5 million to play 5-6 minutes and some PP time?

AlexPKeaton wrote:Ottawa is looking to trade Gonchar for nothing. He has 1 year left at 5.5mil. Could be a decent stopgap until next season when more prospects are ready.

No thanks on that

actually depending on what happens in FA I wouldn't mind seeing Gonchar back here for a year, even only playing 5 or 6 minutes and PP time. Other than Letang we don't have any real PP QB's. Our 2nd PP was really inhibited by having guys like Engelland and Orpik back there all year. Nisky did a good job but was horrible lugging the puck up the ice.

The only issue is throwing Despres into those big minutes and letting him sink or swim. He played enough last year to get used to the NHL speed, as long as he muscled up a bit this year I think he can progress very nicely in that #4 spot without having to worry about PK or PP just yet. I would like to see him get some #2 PP time 1/2 through the season if his play warrants it.

You want to pay Gonchar 5.5 million to play 5-6 minutes and some PP time?

Its only for a year and then its off the books, if we have the cap space who cares how much we pay for him. Also take notice I qualified my post as "depending on what happens in FA". So gonchar might be plan C or D but I wouldn't let one year of his salary turn me away from someone who can help the team.